Collaborative Canine Training

As soon as I got my new puppy I searched for a trainer for her. Steve reached out to me and during the first phone call he has given me so many helpful tips on how to deal with my 8 weeks old puppy. Now that she is a bit older we met in person and I am beyond excited to work with Steve! He is so knowledgeable and has a ton of information. I am so thankful that the took the time to explain everything so I can understand how my puppy things and why she does things and how to work with her. He answered all my questions and explained his style of training, he also was focused on what I would like to get out of the training. My puppy loves him from the second she met him. I will definitely recommend working with him! More...

I met Steve two and a half years ago at my job. I work front desk at a hotel. He trains service dogs full time and brings them in every week so he can work with them in our environment with new distractions and stimuli. I had the unique opportunity to observe how he works before I asked him to help with my dog. I was always amazed by how he interacts and communicates with the dogs and how they respond to him. I got a puppy several months after meeting Steve and I anticipated his weekly training sessions so I could seek his advice. I had already learned so much from watching him with multiple dogs so I tried to emulate the things he does and use his techniques. As our dog Willow got older, we struggled to correct a few behaviors. At the time Steve was not doing personal dog training and only working with the service dogs but I begged him to help us with Willow. I knew his understanding and ability to connect with dogs was a rare natural gift that not everyone has. I saw the success he achieved and I trusted his abilities. I liked that he always maintains a calm consistent energy and never get frustrated or impatient with the dogs. He agreed to help me with Willow. During his first meeting he took control of her and asserted himself as the one in control in the relationship. It didn't take long for her to recognize and respect that. He demonstrated for us that the results we want are completely achievable and we just needed to learn the correct way to do things. We didn't realize how much we had been doing wrong. In reality Steve had to teach us how to teach our dog. He became the coach and Willow and I were the team. He taught me the correct ways to handle different situations. He'd observe and instruct me on when and how to correctly implement the techniques. He showed me ways to keep her focused and connected to me. I learned the importance of staying calm, consistent and firm. He even worked with my children so we as a household could be more consistent in her training. He showed us how to convey to her what we were asking or expecting from her. We know that having success and the outcome we want, requires our dedication, patience and consistency which can be hard at times so I've always admired Steve's dedication and patience. If you're looking for help with your dog, you won't regret working with him. You'll learn a lot and you can trust that he has the knowledge and understanding to help you achieve the results you're looking for. More...

If you believe you can't teach an old dog new tricks, you haven't had Stephen as your trainer. Years ago, he taught my 9 year old Newfoundland to use a ramp to get into our truck where I had failed even with his most favorite treat.

In recent years, I can honestly say I would not have made it with my Newfoundland puppy and adolescent without getting continual training with Stephen. At times he was as much counselor as trainer when I didn't know how to deal with yet another unruly behavior. And when your dog starts weighing more than you do and he's not yet a year-old, you need the best trainer. I found this with Stephen. He uses multiple methods of training, understands dog's behavior, has patience and is a pleasure to be around. I highly recommend Stephen to train any dog! More...

First of all, I liked the fact that we were contacted right away. So many times you never get a call back.

We had met a dog owner and their dog on a walk and commented about how well behaved he was. She couldn't stop talking about how great her trainer Steve was. She was more than willing to share his contact info with us.

Steve is attentive to what we're trying to accomplish in the long run. Ours was a 4 month old puppy when we stayed and he had been working with us to understand how dogs think, don't think (puppy brain) and how to respond in a positive way. Even working on my tone of voice. There is so much we didn't realize to having well adjusted loving dog.
Everything we work on is to set us and our dog for a positive outcome.

We choose the amount of time we like to spend with Steve and go from there. Sometimes he needs to go over things more than once for me to full grasp what I should be doing. He's very patient
I highly recommend Steve, and our dog is in love with him. More...

Steve has worked with our organization since 2013 as our Head Trainer. He is excellent. Calm, kind, balanced trainer using positive reinforcement to guide behaviors for many strong willed dogs who do not seem to respond, to submissive dogs needing confidence building. He comes from a background of training successful service dogs. Like I mentioned above, Steve is an excellent choice to help teach you as a handler, and help train your dog for your needs. More...